• Zephyr@sh.itjust.works
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    13 hours ago

    He is definitely not the first trillionair or the richest man. he is the first publicly recorded trillionair / richest man. Most keep the vast majority they have secret as fuck.

    Most of that money is in Tesla stock so not much can be done with it. Maybe take out 10% to 30% of its value as a loan from banks with the stock as collateral then mostly buy some shit that will ideally appreciate in value. It’s not liquid wealth so there isn’t much you can do with it. $1B liquid would be far more valuable than $1T in stock evaluations.

    • terranoid@lemmy.cafe
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      12 hours ago

      Yep. Musk might be rich but he’s not as influential as he tries to be. He’s actually kind of pathetic in that respect, gets eaten up by the media and looks like a complete tool.

      He tried so hard to be in the neo Nazi inner circle but he’s just a rich wannabe in every fucking regard.

      • Zephyr@sh.itjust.works
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        12 hours ago

        Kinda unfortunate honestly. If he just chilled without getting into politics and just worked on electric cars, boring machines, battery factories, rockets, and satellite internet probably would be a much more beloved figure. The whole twitter and political involvement / rigging is definitely a downhill move.

        • rafoix@lemmy.zip
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          11 hours ago

          He got into politics because he saw the balance sheets at the companies he’s running.

          His businesses desperately needed government backing and he saw an opportunity to buy himself into the most corrupt administration ever.

          • Zephyr@sh.itjust.works
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            11 hours ago

            Probably accurate although the demand for electric vehicles and hybrids isn’t going anywhere and most definitely the demand for batteries isn’t going anywhere. Cheap boring and rockets are definitely more niche. Low earth orbit satellite internet has been massive in less developed countries with underdeveloped infrastructure. Maybe if we had something super valuable to mine on the moon or on an asteroid we lassoed into orbit. In short probably could have played the field like most tech companies do and been fine. Check out all the AI companies not going full alt right yet doing alright with massive operating costs to revenue.